Thursday, October 1, 2026
With the federal government currently in shutdown, U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen, whose district covers the South Shore of Long Island, offered a bipartisan solution.
Gillen, a Democrat, shared her perspective on the federal government’s shutdown at the Family and Health Center office in Uniondale on Oct. 2, calling for her Republican colleagues in the house to hear Democrats’ concerns about the budget.
Health care spending is at the center of the disagreement in the House. The budget Congress had attempted to pass, up until Oct. 1 at midnight, includes cuts to a selection of programs that Gillen called “the largest cut to health care in America's history.”
Gillen called for both parties to seek a bipartisan solution before rising health costs contribute to the financial burden of families across her district.
“If House Republicans governed responsibly, they would have met with us,” she said. “Instead, they've chosen to throw our health care system into further crisis, just months after they voted to gut Medicaid for millions of children, seniors and people with disabilities.”
The “Big Bad Bill,” according to Gillen, includes cuts that would significantly raise premiums for people who have plans under the Affordable Healthcare Act.
“A middle class family of four could see their health care bills rise by an additional $3,200 next year,” she explained. “This is really going to hurt people. We are already struggling with the cost of living crisis, and Long Islanders cannot afford another increased bill.”
A shutdown occurs when congress does not pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which is Oct. 1 for the federal government. During a shutdown, non-essential departments are halted, while vital institutions must continue working without pay.
The last government shutdown was in 2019.
Gabriel Pedeira is the legislative and political organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees — the largest federal labor union in the country with 800,000 members. In the previous shutdown, Pedeira saw federal workers struggle with delayed pay.
“We had people going to food banks,” he said. “We had people who could not pay their utility bills at the time. We had families who couldn't pay for childcare at the time. We had people who were forced to go to work and literally couldn't afford the gasoline.
“This is not something that should be happening in a developed nation like the United States of America,” he continued. “I know we can do better.”
Jeffery Reynolds, president and chief executive of Family & Children’s Association, explained that suicides, divorces and other civil disruptions have been on downward treand post-coronavirus pandemic, but that progress could be at risk.
“I worry that the threats to Medicaid, the threats to the ACA ¾ to the grants that we hold here at FCA put all of that in jeopardy,” he said.
Vanessa Barid-Streeter, president and chief executive of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, urged for healthcare spending to remain a priority in the federal budget.
“They are lifelines for people, for communities and for individuals,” she said. “If we let these credits expire, we will all feel it deeply, personally and collectively.”
